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Mall Reduces Water Usage from 15,000 to 4,000 Gallons a Month
Case Study
Problem
A commercial property manager with a strip mall that had been operating for over 40 years began experiencing drastic spikes in monthly water bills. The average water costs had previously been $2,500 per month, but suddenly jumped to $8,000—a 300% increase. The property, which housed 20 tenants, saw water usage spike from 4,000 gallons per month to 15,000 gallons.
Without individual meters, the property owner was unable to pinpoint the source of the excessive water usage or determine whether it was caused by tenant behavior or underlying issues like leaks.
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Cellular Connectivity
Online Reporting
Challenges
- Lack of Visibility into Water Usage: Without individual submeters, there was no way to track water usage by tenant or identify anomalies.
- Tenant Communication Ineffectiveness: Sending mass emails to tenants requesting reduced water usage yielded no improvement.
- High Inspection Costs: Hiring plumbers to inspect each unit was expensive and only uncovered minor issues that failed to address the ongoing spikes.
- Unrealistic Cost of Traditional Submetering: Installing traditional inline meters was estimated to cost $50,000, a prohibitive expense.
Solution
- Cost-Effective: SimpleSUB meters cost 1/10th of the quoted cost of $50k for inline meters.
- No Pipe Cutting: Installation was quick and non-invasive, allowing the property owner to test the solution with three initial meters.
- Real-Time Monitoring: The SimpleSUB app provided live data on water usage, allowing the owner to monitor each unit’s consumption remotely.
- Exceptional Customer Support: SimpleSUB’s team offered proactive communication, sending alerts for irregular water usage and helping troubleshoot issues.
Results
Using SimpleSUB Water, the property manager quickly identified and addressed several costly leaks:
- Pinpointing a Restaurant Leak: Alerts from SimpleSUB indicated that water usage in one restaurant had not stopped for 24 hours. A hidden leak in the back of the restaurant was uncovered and repaired.
- Detecting Additional Issues: Four more leaks across different units were identified and fixed, preventing further losses.
- Uncovering a Hidden Leak Under Concrete: A second restaurant showed 1,500 gallons of water loss daily. SimpleSUB helped identify a leak under concrete in the back, which would have otherwise gone unnoticed, costing thousands.
By addressing these leaks, water usage dropped from 15,000 gallons per month to 4,000 gallons, saving over $100,000 in water overcharges in just eight months.
Customer Feedback
The property manager praised SimpleSUB Water for its:
- Ease of Installation: “I loved that there is no cutting into the pipe and it’s so easy to install.”
- Real-Time Data and Alerts: “Being able to go online and see how each store is doing without manual checks is a game-changer.”
- Outstanding Customer Service: “Evan responds so quickly to all my questions and concerns. The company is truly all about their customers.”
We were quoted $50,000 for a plumber to install inline meters, which was completely out of our budget. SimpleSUB’s solution cost a fraction of that—under $400 per unit with a small monthly subscription—and provided the same accurate data with much less hassle. It was an easy decision!
Luis O.
Rilea Group
About SimpleSub Water
Established in 2019 by two engineers with career backgrounds in smart water technology, SimpleSUB Water was founded in direct response to a gap in the marketplace: the founders developed the first user friendly, affordable, and accurate water submetering solution.
The solution delivers unprecedented results. The patent-pending design and calibration process, which ensure easy installation and high accuracy, are changing the landscape of clamp-on submetering.